Wayfarer (Wanderlust 2)

Chapter Twenty-One

It was another few weeks before Jale decided that the weather was going to be reliably mild enough for them to start their trip back to Till. She spent the week leading up to their departure preparing the Wayfarer for the trip—buying new supplies as well as finding a few crates of irdka and maple syrup for them to take for trading.

The evening before they were set to leave, Reng Runolorinn invited them to dinner. It wasn't an unusual invitation, they ate most of their meals with the governor, Orearaley, and any number of other family members or advisors. The surprise came when servants escorted them to a smaller, private dining room instead of the large one they were used to. Aside for servants and a single guard, the only people in the room were the governor and Orearaley.

Tanden and Soren took the seats directly across the table. Despite Tanden's insistence, Jale hadn't been invited to the dinner. Although Tanden was pretty sure she didn't mind.

The servants immediately started to work their way around the table. The main dish was roasted meat that came from a large type of deer Tanden couldn't remember the name of. On the side, they had a variety of boiled root vegetables. It was a simple meal, considering what they usually ate at the big banquets.

"Are you ready for your departure?" Reng Runolorinn asked, once the food was served and the servants had moved out of the way.

Tanden nodded. "Everything's prepared. We'll be leaving fairly early in the morning. Lirajaleanor would like us to get as far as possible before nightfall."

"You're going back to Till?" Orearaley asked. "You are welcome to stay longer, if you would like to travel into the rest of the country?"

"I would love to," Tanden said. "But we..." he paused to glance at Soren, who was eating. He'd long ago stopped pretending he could understand dinner conversations. "We need to get back to our ship. I trust our men to handle it, but it was only supposed to be temporary. We've already been gone longer than I planned."

"Maybe one day you can visit again," Reng Runolorinn said. "We would be happy to host you. But perhaps you should start your travel in spring."

Tanden laughed. "Yes, I'll definitely keep that in mind. We've never seen winter before, we had no idea what to expect. That said, I am glad we got to experience winter. It's been incredible—our whole stay has been incredible. We've learned so much about Tallen Tiya. My people know absolutely nothing about this country. I didn't even know what it was called until we started this trip."

"Hopefully your return to your ship will lead to better communication between our countries," Reng Runolorinn said.

"Would you mind telling us about your other trips?" Orearaley asked. "You must have been to some very fascinating places."

Tanden loved being asked to talk about his trips. He loved talking about his trips, but at least when he was asked he knew his audience was interested in hearing about it. He told them about Zianna first, then Crele, and then Deorun. Morcea they were more familiar with, but neither had ever travelled there. Tanden also told them about other places they planned to visit. Valdon and Faldon, Navire and the Southern countries. Tanden talked throughout the main course, answering occasional questions and a few times turning to Soren to double check a detail.

He could have easily talked through dessert, as well, but he instead decided to enjoy his iced cream. "I wish there was a way I could take this with me," he said, as he scooped up the last mouthful in his bowl.

Reng Runolorinn gestured, and to Tanden's delight, a servant brought over a second bowl for him.

"It is very delicious," Reng Runolorinn agreed. "I believe you are taking some irdka and syrup to trade?"